How do you make a stay at your B&B special?
From the time our guests check in, we try to make their stay personal and special starting with homemade goodies. We decorate the whole B&B with fresh flowers in every room. If one of our guests is celebrating a special occasion, we have a personal-size cake decorated with the guest's name in the small refrigerator downstairs. We gladly make restaurant reservations for our guests to celebrate their stay in Gig Harbor.
Our breakfast table is tastefully set with attractive breakfastware and table settings. Our breakfasts are gourmet, delicious, and our guests never go away hungry. In fact, many times we will pack up extra muffins to tide our guests over when they are going on a day trip.
Which is your personal favorite room at your inn?
Our favorite room is the suite downstairs that is approximately 1,200 square feet, since it is open, spacious, and has cedar paneling and a wet bar with a small refrigerator and a coffee maker. It is very private with its own entry.
We especially enjoy the heated floors during the colder months. It makes you feel right at home with the Native American decor, the great view of the harbor, and the adjacent Asian gardens that have a serene ambience.
What are some of the unique features of the Gig Harbor area?
Unique features of our location and region include a beautiful harbor which contains several fishing fleets, sail and power boats, and the opportunity to kayak. Along the harbor are unique shops, galleries, and a variety of restaurants.
We're surrounded by two main mountain ranges: to the west are the Olympics with beautiful Mount Olympus and the Olympic Peninsula, which contains a world famous rain forest. To the east are the Cascades which contain a number of majestic mountain peaks, the most beautiful of which is Mt. Rainier. Mt. Rainier looms spectacularly over Gig Harbor as if you can walk a short ways and actually touch it. A common picture of a depiction of the northwest is a picture of Mt. Rainier watching over Gig Harbor.
From the Olympic Peninsula you can take a two and a half hour ferry ride to Victoria, Canada. A half hour from our home you can take the Bremerton Ferry to downtown Seattle, which lets off right next to our well known Pike Place Market (an outdoor but covered farmers' market). Tacoma is right across the Narrows Bridge, which is 10 minutes from our B&B. Tacoma has theatres and museums, and most recently the Washington State Historical Museum was refurbished with state-of-the-art interactive displays.
What made you want to become innkeepers?
We enjoy traveling and meeting people. We enjoy having people in our home and treating them like good friends. People who are traveling are usually in a good mood and are looking forward to their discoveries. We look forward to be a part of the energy that goes with the discovery process, for example showing guests the area we live in. We especially enjoy showing people the unique, backroads part of our area.
We were the ones in our group of friends who threw the great parties (magicians, square dance callers, bluegrass bands, belly dancers, etc.) so it was natural to consider being B&B hosts.
What's your favorite part of being innkeepers?
We love having people in our home and getting to treat them like we would like to be treated when we stay at B&Bs. We especially like international travelers, as we learn about various cultures and parts of the world. Suzanne is a registered dietitian and we both have been in a gourmet cooking group for over 20 years and enjoy putting together mouth-watering delights.
NOTE: As of May 2008, it appears that Peacock Hill Guest House has closed.
